A ‘Q-Flex’ LNG tanker, the world’s second-largest class of liquefied natural gas carriers, is set to pass through the Panama Canal for the first time, the canal’s CEO said, expanding the Americas to Asia trade route for the fast-growing commodity.
A floating gate opens as a Panama flagged crane ship named Oceanus navigates through Cocoli locks during a test of the new set of locks of the Panama Canal expansion project on the Pacific side in Cocoli, on the outskirts of Panama City, Panama, June 20, 2016. REUTERS/Carlos Jasso
The ‘Al Safliyah’, which can carry about 210,000 cubic meters of LNG, is on its way to Panama from the North Pacific after discharging a cargo from Qatar into Korea Gas Corp’s (KOGAS) Tongyeong terminal on April 21, shipping data in Refinitiv Eikon showed.
“This is the first Q-Flex to transit the Panama Canal,” Jorge Quijano, chief executive of Panama Canal Authority told Reuters.
It comes after the canal was expanded in mid-2018 to handle larger oil and gas tankers.
“This size of vessel … could be deployed to carry LNG from the natural gas liquefaction plants in the U.S., Trinidad and Tobago and Peru,” Quijano said.
The ship is on a long term charter to Qatargas, the world’s biggest LNG producer, according to LNG trading and broker sources. Qatargas did not respond to a query for comment.
The vessel’s owner, Qatar Gas Transport Co (Nakilat), said in March that it had assessed the ability of ‘Q-Flex’ class LNG carriers to safely pass the Panama canal’s new locks in the near future.